Hourly labour costs grew both in Cyprus and the Eurozone by 2.5% during Q3 2018

Hourly labour costs rose by 2.5% in the euro area (EA19), by 2.7% in the EU28 and by 2.5% in Cyprus during the third quarter of 2018, compared with the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In the second quarter of 2018, hourly labour costs increased by 2.3%, 2.7% and 2.6% respectively.

The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs. In the euro area, the cost of wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 2.4% and the non-wage component by 3.0% in the third quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In Cyprus wages grew by 2.5% and the non wage component by 2.4%. In the EU28, the costs of hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.7% and the non-wage component rose by 2.4% in the third quarter of 2018.

In the third quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 2.2% in industry, by 2.9% in construction and in services and by 2.1% in the (mainly) non-business economy.

In the EU28, labour costs per hour grew by 2.6% in industry, by 3.3% in construction, by 2.8% in services and by 2.4% in the (mainly) non-business economy.

In Cyprus, labour costs per hour grew by 3.2 % in industry, 3% in construction, 2.8% in services, by 2.9% in the business economy and by 1.7% in the mainly non business economy.

In the third quarter of 2018, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Romania (+13.9%), Latvia (+13.2%) and Lithuania (+10.7%), while the lowest annual increases in hourly labour costs were recorded in Belgium (+1.2%), Portugal (+1.5%), Malta and Finland (both at +1.6%).